A landmark review reveals that decades of massive federal investment in education—totaling trillions in taxpayer funds—have failed to deliver measurable improvements in core academic performance. Despite the Department of Education’s founding mission to boost student achievement, new data on national test scores in reading and math show stagnation or decline, raising critical questions about the effectiveness of long-standing education policies. Critics and analysts are now scrutinizing whether the current approach to funding and reform has fallen short of its intended goals. The findings could spark a national conversation on how to better allocate resources to support learning.
The Department of Education was established in 1980 with the promise of improving education outcomes for America’s students. $3 trillion in taxpayer dollars later, national test scores in reading, ...
